Will Israel Adesanya need to change his movement style at UFC 248?

Adesanya's movement style at UFC 243 was a source of controversy.

Breakdown of the pro's and con's of that move under kickboxing/Muay Thai rules here;



That said whilst leaning his head back out of the way might prove effective against MMA boxers and kickboxers so far.

He has never faced a takedown artist of the calibre of Yoel. What adjustments can the brazilian ju jitsu blue belt make to stay off his back against the Olympic calibre wrestler? Or will Yoel be dumb enough to stand with him;


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Adesenya will dance circles around Yoel Romero and cruise to an easy decision. Yoel's 3 second bursts won't work on Izzy's speed....no matter how many times he cheats and lies about getting groin shotted/ eye poked to catch his breath.

 

Izzy has shown that he can get hit. And Yoel is a different beast to Kelvin. I think Yoel will wobble izzy & the fight wont be as clear cut as some think.

 

Yoel, while extremely powerful and explosive, is not nearly as accurate with his punches as Gastelum is though.

 

Good question. Izzy posting back leaves himself in the worst possible position for a TD, head behind knees.

Old man Yoel hasn't shot much recently, probably due to fear of gassing. If Yoel can catch Izzy as clean as Fastelum did then it's game over.

 

Generally speaking, lots of movement and slightly less use of kicks (to not risk getting rushed/the leg catched by Romero) and an emphasis on straight punches from distance should do the trick for Adesanya.

Besides that, im 100% certain that Adesanya will make the right adjustments for that fight.

 

You think Yoel will stand with Adesanya?

 

But hes more unpredictable and has a weird fucking rythme. Hes gonna be harder to time then Kelvin whos pretty conventional.

 

Lol I wouldn't put it past him. Whether it's ego or poor fight IQ, Yoel makes some questionable decisions.

 

Yeah, he's pretty weird in that regard, i think Adesanya won't let himself get lured into getting careless when Romero employs a slower pace for some time (like he always does, before he explodes) but it's certainly the case that he has to be really, really careful and focused against Yoel.

 

Whittaker beat the absolute shit out of Romero for 2 straight rounds in the rematch.
Costa hit him with monster shit too
Romero came back with some insane shit of his own, he's one of a kind when it comes to lulling fighters into a false sense of security.
I'm not a Romero nut hugger but he some how finds a way to rock the absolute shit out of people no matter what.

 

Everyone can get hit. The reason you think it's noteworthy that he gets hit is because it's so rare. Romero is probably gonna get done and everyone will say he's too old.

 

Regardless of the outcome I just want to see Yoel casually grab Izzy’s skinny ankle and make him fly through the air.

 

Its gonna be a chess match forsure, Izzy will come in with a good gameplan. Abd I favor him fotsure. Costa is Izzy's toughest fight by far, cant wait for that.

 

This is such an intriguing fight for me but if you held a gun to my head and told me I had to pick, I would have to say Izzy. I think his speed, timing, reach and unorthodox style will probably edge him a decision. Yoel is no spring chicken but is still extremely dangerous. I will be watching this one for sure, even if I have to endure another Holm/Pennington snoozefest type of co-main before it

 

I don't think that Romero has the offensive game to capitalize on Izzy's lean back.

 

That's true, he's been able to absorb insane amounts of punishment, but so has Whittaker and Adesanya finished him as well, although that's a bit of MMA-math.

 

We shall see.

 

Whittaker fought with a horrible gameplan and left himself wide open against Izzy

In his fight with Romero he was fighting like a sniper. When he fought Izzy he rushed the hell out of it (I think he had too much respect and hoped for a KO)
But if Izzy finished Romero I'd be surprised. The guy ate Costa's best shots and Whittakers headkicks for breakfast.

I think Romero is a bit too fast, awkward and crafty for Izzy to time a shot like he did with Whittaker

 

I see where you're coming from, although i think that Bobby's gameplan wasn't as bad as people make it out to be. While in a different manner, Gastelum did pretty well at closing the distance fast and trying to hit Adesanya, so Whittaker maybe tried to do the same thing, although Gastelum didn't throw as many haymakers.
I'm sure though that with the speed Robert has gone after Izzy with, he'd have landed clean on almost any, if not any other middleweight. Many of those shots missed only by a very, very small margin and if it wasn't for Israel's fantastic ability, he'd have get hit.

Probably true though that Robert should've mixed it up more, even though we don't know too much about his offensive wrestling, while simultaneously knowing that Israel's defensive wrestling is quite good.

As for Romero eating Costa's best shots: true, but i generally think that accurate, unexpected shots>>>hard shots who hit flush. That's also the reason that Adesanya finished Whittaker "twice" in that fight, while Romero couldn't do it, despite landing flush.
I also think that Costa's power is overrated. Sure, he's powerful, but i think the biggest part comes from hi sheer size (and the amount of muscle, that goes along with it). I'd say that both Gastelum and Romero hit harder, with Gastelum at least naturally being the hardest puncher out of the three.